Kholiud, Lebanon

Kholiud is from Lebanon and she arrived in Sweden with her husband and young son in January of 2016.

What is your story and how did you end up in Sweden?

We came as asylum seekers as me and my husband had done a silent revolution against the regime and religious people and as a result achieved the first civil marriage. But because of this, we were threatened to death and had to flee. We arrived in Sweden and were sent to a camp close to Klippan then to Fur in Karlskrona

What do you like the most about Sweden?

I like a lot about Sweden, it’s people, it’s nature, and it’s laws. All humanitarian issues. Equality between nationalities, races and other issues. I’ve experienced the beauty of nature with my family, we’ve swam in the lakes, gone fishing and we’ve eaten from the forest fruits.

What are you doing right now?

I have a bachelor degree in English, so I started helping Arabic people with translations in immigration offices and in hospitals. I’ve done a few project with the Red Cross – projects for women concerning cooking food from the Middle East and sharing it with Swedish people. I have also organized different groups in the camp to prepare them to Swedish life -integration. I organized women’s groups, children’s groups and football groups along with the camp manager.

What has been the biggest obstacle?

In the beginning I fell in to a depression because of the long period waiting to get interviewed by the immigration. But this changed because I dedicated myself to help people in the camp. I also cooperated with people from kommun and a daycare to help kids in the camp. Now, I am happy being in Sweden, hoping to find a job and to be able to integrate more in the Swedish society. I really want to be an active citizen